PROPOSED NEW GOVERNMENT FOR THE WEST COAST.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1272, 27 August 1872, Page 2

PROPOSED NEW GOVERNMENT FOR THE WEST COAST.

PUBLIC MEETING AT NO TOWN.

A meeting was held at Haisty'a Hotel, No Town, on Saturday evening, the 24th instant, to .consider the question of the proposed change of Government for the Nelson Sou th-West Gold Fields. A deputation from the Abaura Committee of the Gold Fields Government Reform' League attended, and laid the memorial on the subject, which is about being forwarded to the General Assembly, before the meeting. The Nelson petition against the dismemberment of the Province was also presented for consideration.

Mr Gbo. M'Beath (of W. S. Campbell and Co.) was voted to the chair, and explained the object for which the meeting was called. The Chairman said the Nelsou Government had forfeited the good opinion the residents of the No Town < district formerly held of it, in consequence of the negligence and utter indifference the members of the Executive | displayed in dealing with the Gold Fields interests. The time had come when a change was necessaiy, and it was the duty of the inhabitants of the Gold Fields to support the General Government in their efforts to .effect that change. The treatment the mining interest received at the hands of the Nelson Government was fast depopulating the Gold Fields, for there wrs no inducement for men to remain as matters were. The difficulty of getting through the country owing to the absence of roads and tracks was as great as it was seven years ago, and the vast area of auriferous ground lying waste and unproductive through the neglect*of the Provincial Government in inaugurating so;ne comprehensive ays.tern of water supply, was a standing disgrace to Mr Curti3*s Government. It wa^sasy to s^y that the construction pf vat£** works was the business of the General Government, but if the Provincial Government had the interests of the Gold Fields at heart, they would have borrowed or otherwise obtained the money to make those works long ago. The amount of money contributed by the district of No Town to the Provincial Treasury during the last six or seven years was something enormous, the revenues Irom the place was large still, and the Provincial Government would at anytime be justified in incurring the responsibility of providing water on $n extensive scale. Had £his been done «, large and prosperous population would be 'settled for 'years in the^ district, but as it is now the, faintest whisper of a new rush in other places draws away a number of those who can be least spared, for they take their energy and industry with them to other countries, where such qualifications are better appreciated than ;they are here. The Nelson Government had every opportunity given it to retrieve its lost'reputation, but it was incorrigible, and the only remedy left was to awsep the yholg " box and dice" or them into oblivion. The Chairman concluded b)' reg nesting a fair hearing for those who might address the meeting, and he called upon Mr John Corbelt to move the first resolution.

Mr Corbbtt (of -the-Cemetery-Terrace Water Race Company) said he regretted the necessity existed for holding such a meetyng ? or for forwarding a memorial such as was before then}, |t was patnfnl to see that any Government could be so blind to it^s own interests or to the interests of those it governed, that it would by its mismanagement bring about a state of affairs such as now existed. The Nelson Government had grossly and wilfully mismanaged the magnificent public estate it possessed in its Gold Fields, and how the 'Sxeoutive have had tfye audacity to publish such a manifesto ns that he was about to read to them. jMrCorbett hero read the anti-separation petition published in the Nehon newspapers.,) They would perceive that the document was carefully drawn up, aud worded in such a manner as to convey the idea that the mining community was satisfied with the j^elson connection, aud that a change ijecesgarily meant annp^atiqn to Westland oif the iJelsQn South- West Qold FieldSi and the assumption of the in r habitantsj of those Gold Fieids of Westr land's liabilities and debts. They would also observe the claptrap about the abstract theory that to be prosperous populations should be of mixed pursuits and occupations. This was the veriest biinkmn, when applied to a population sucli' a3 thai at the Proyince of Nelson, for in reality and in fact the mining population were the producers and consumers at tho same time, and contributed the

| bolk of the revenue. It w«, positively * amusing to bear thia special pleading about an aroalgation of the pastoral, agricultural iiiid other interesta of Blind Bay wUhfthe mining interest. There was no such thing as a pastoral interest or an agricultural interest worth speaking about iv the Province of Nelson. The naming "intergsfr-waa -parmuamH ' bwmss£*&?n--tributed tp , the xevenoa r to peqp up all the - otfiera; aM tos<Wry ofa tHe Governmpnt. What would Nelapn bg .with°igijf*^|@if^JoTu']^^lßs*?' »Ulfl"JWWfWWof fostering the fginspgafUferest the Government had used all its power and exerted the personal influence, of its members to retard the PJC^«^^he mining community. Tfie^Gj^^^Snt and people of filind Bay flira^la^yTOpathy with the .Gold. Fields, and : tb^jr. k ©d>»|>g?rf he miner merely 'as* a foiri&yM%? njajMne, and they regardeaihe (Soj^JFid^aiply as a wurce of reve.ntt%£i^;ff!&BAYfirythingisextraptedandTnQthing returned. The Gold Fields membessjn sh,a Provincial Council we^, hp^wfnkw W is |he Nelson|Executive. " Sums .bi'money. were placed upon tn£~Estih\ates f 'ygaV ftftferyear for public works on tb,e T ,Gold Flelils,: and : year after year^h^prolirises' of yam® expendituris were- rfeh^iirttfil^ brb¥em R / Ji rhß asidrtioni 6f Mr i3tifl;i&' tnfet inVl^ernment possessed "the 5 cVinsdeifee* lOTThel OT The miner* ihadnd foutiftatJon4n7fi#;irfna Mr Curtis knew it.. -Twelve months ago a memorial similar to th^e pad he w ( as, (going to .i^ead to them wft^jf^ward^^,to the Assembly, ' That memor^ajQwas Jigs^^ay ■

more than, a* thousand nagetg, jshg^re then dissatisfied w^thjthe Curtis Geyenjment, and who 1 given them of opinion since. On ths cp^raiy, J(i^tia)»Cr tion had spread ancLwas spreading widely, for the <coutinu3d:>,Aa& flAgfdpfcitaafcd* .minjistration. by t j^e..]Sielaon Executive of Gold Fields 'affaimhad^arb'used the indignation of' hundxeds among^-the, miners, -who "wfere'^feviovisly 1 ifayfflaMft' i TOwards Nelson rule, or, at aU evenf^iiwtK#ent as to which king f uled $he rpos.t^ f , jßejpas glad of ttu» f J^cdk^'^f&yonJfa (fasemon of {the ou£anaUput partisans of CurtiaLand 'tJo'.'was Ihat'.'tj^e^il||rs.*'ere^refeli of their political jights, 'aiid^iiMifferent about $)i'e i form # GoWrtmlent ffief liyeTOrfter as long as they auoVe^^aelve away and pay their taxes In' peace' and quietness. Jt Awatf~,time the miners should, by thw^^^^a, give the lie to the slande^row^MMßonß of the 'gobo rnoucJuis, ana teacir triem that the time has passed whentheh- blatenfe'"biafi&rskitings" could pass current for a knowledge of public opinion on &c Gold, Fields, Mr ©orbett here read the memorial it is proposed to fo*wftSd to Piarliament, and commented .on the/; several clauses a3 he went through them, Ho said' that the main thing reqairta of the miners now was a decided expression; of opinion that a change in the Government of the Gold Fields want absolutely ngoea. sary to prevent total annihilation of 4he mining interest, because an .indefinite continuation of the present system of wilful mismanagement would result in the destruction of gold-mining as a means of livelihood of the miners ia this part of the Colony. Once the .principle that alteration is desirable is affirmed, the direction the new mode .of i Government should take would be easier Settled, TW; was a ffiattgp thj . .Par}i§m^nt jfy thj Qolony was best qualified to settle. The General Government had-Abwiiaß'intel-ligent appreciation of the wants of the miners, and had exhibited a desire- to remedy those wants.. > VVheiijthe Premier visited the Gold Fields he evinced a desire to inform himself of the actual sta^s of affairs, and although Mr ; Fox didnotJsay much at the time ; , he. evidently thought a good deal, as Mr Curtis ha 3 since discovered to his intense mortification: Mr Fox, when he was' here, did dot surround himself with a bodyguard 'of' ahatitykeepers nor sly-grog merchants ; on the contraiy, he sought information from the most.reliable sources,. andJi&abtained^i} amount of practical ingight into the wqiii ? ings of Nelson rule' on* the Gold Fields which Mr Curtis, with all his ability, has never troubled himself to 4cquire.? The great bugbear held by thfe Nelsonitel in terror; over the Separationists, is the Westland debt. It does not .follow that I because the Ministry see fit to abolish ! the Nelson incubus it will saddle the Nelson Gold Fields with another "Old Man of the Sea," in the shape of Westland's liabilities. In the netMfold Fields Bill about to be introduced by the Ministry, no doubt provision, would be made for liquidating or clearing off all these lisbilities, so as to give the new^ror vince or County, or whatever system of Government; may be instituted, a fair start and a chance of existence. If this were not done a change would be useless, and the so-called improvement, would be no improvement at aHr Hie would conclude by .moving the_ resolution. Jhejgaa requested to pro Dose, and fie trusted that the miners of the district would ; f unite to a man and make a last effort to emanci* pate themselves front the blightirfg enoe oi ¥e)^on and^ lU he\ottojsg^. (Qbeers.) Mr v Corbett then moved^i " That this meeting is of opinion that the memorial to, the Geuaral Assembly just read, embodies the desires of the inhabitants of the district, as -to the necessity qf an in_tte_jmodejof,Gg.Ygrnmenl of "flie"ffeTson SoiitK-West Gold Fields." „.,..„. « Mr John* : titvi?rGSTcfira, hon. sec. to the local School Committee, in a forcible, speeoh, socqnded the motion, -*hiQ| carried unanimously. , ;— " Several other speakers' aiddr^ssed the meeting, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated J^jDjrocegdingSj^